What if Patrick and Ellen really did?
by Flowerbudd
Summary: Ok, never would this happen, but a girl can fantasize. What happened after the A.D called cut on the set of the finale
1. Chapter 1

"Cut!" The assistant director called out, as everyone started to set down their equipment and walk off to the snack table.

Ellen shook her head slightly as if to clear it, and Patrick looked at her, realizing he still had his arms around her and entangled in her hair, and she still had her legs wrapped around his waist. She blushed, and scooted back on the exam table, releasing him. Their eyes met and something flashed between them, something that made Ellen's heart stop briefly. And made her forget to take a breath.

"Do you think that was a wrap?" he asked her quietly, noticing how noone seemed to be paying any attention to them, like they were done shooting for the day.

"I guess so," she said, looking back into his eyes. He reached his hand out to help her off the exam table and she took it, feeling his skin burn into hers like fire. They dropped their hands quickly.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and fidgeted nervously. There were a lot of people around, but most of them were joking around at the snack table, or wrapping up wires and getting things put up for the night.

"El…." Patrick leaned in to whisper to her.

"Not right now," she said. She knew they were going to have to talk about whatever had happened, but this wasn't the place.

Patrick sighed, "Time to head off." He waved and whirled around and headed out to his trailer. Ellen watched him walk away, before heading to the wardrobe room to change out of her dress and back into her street clothes. Twenty minutes later she was walking back to her trailer in the dark when a dark shape loomed from behind it, and pulled her aside. She relaxed instantly when she recognized her co-star's smell and shape.

He nodded to her trailer door, and they both snuck in quickly after observing for any passers by. She clicked the lock securely and sat down at the little table, folding her hands in front of her and examining her nails. He paced in the little kitchen, before coming to rest in front of her.

"That… I mean… God, I've been able to ignore this for awhile now, but this was different, holding you.. I am not so sure this is a 'crush'." He admitted shamefacedly.

Ellen looked down, embarrassed as well. He was married, she had Chris, this couldn't happen. And it was so ironicly like their tv characters life it was scary.

He stood there looking so confused and forlorn, and she knew she should just sit there and convince him it was just the heat of the moment, of filming that scene, but so many things felt unfinished. She had literally forgotten there were cast and crew members around them as they filmed, and that she wasn't in fact Meredith Grey, but Ellen Pompeo. When Patrick had started kissing her, they had completely thrown out the stage blockings they had rehearsed the previous day, and had commenced to embrace in passion. She had gasped in shock as she had felt his tongue slip into her mouth, and he had pressed himself against her, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She could feel his arousal, and hear him whisper her name, Ellen, as he had trailed kisses down her neck and into her cleavage. She had never been kissed with such wild abandon, and when he had picked her up and pulled her onto him, with only their clothes blocking them from consummating the passion. When the A.D had called Cut, both of them had crashed to earth and been surprised to find themselves in a room , with so many people around. The crew had seen it as another wrap, and gone off to their usual post filming duties and rituals. Shonda had come over to Ellen when she had changed to congratulate her on such a great scene and Ellen had blushed. She looked up to him, unsure what to do. Patrick stared at her for a moment, drinking in the sight of her. He had felt immediate attraction for his waif of a co-star when they had met, but had atoned it to natural feelings any man would have for someone of good looks. They had great chemistry, and he enjoyed her company too. Most of their scenes needed little rehearsal because they both seemed to read each other perfectly. He had reminded himself that he had a wife, and she had a fiancée, and things had stayed pretty even keel. But he wanted more. Today had been a taste of what it would be like to make love to her, and he needed to. "Come here", he quietly commanded her. She slid out of the booth and walked over to him wordlessly. He loved how tiny she was, she made him feel so big and manly, he was only 5'10 but compared to her was a giant. He reached out for her, and pushed a lock off hair off of her face. Her head tilted into his hand, and before he knew it, he was pulling her to him, and pressing his lips against hers. She made a throaty moan which drove him crazy, and he intensified the kiss, backing her up against the door. Her arms came up to around his neck, her fingers locking into his hair, and he reached up and gripped her tiny wrists in his hands, holding them up over her head for a minute, searching her eyes.

"Do you want to do this?" he asked her concerned.

"Yes.." she sighed, nodding her head. He lifted her up , wrapping her legs around his waist and headed to her trailer bedroom.

Finite


	2. Chapter 2

Ellen smiled as she looked at her blackberry. Patrick had sent her a text that NY was a go! They were going to be traveling together to NY for some press and more work on the winter line for NY and Co. That meant six glorious days together in NY, away from their other halves. Sure she felt guilty.. very guilty. But you don't feel what she felt with him all the time, some people never. It was almost as if Shonda had written out their life.

She had never really had a problem dissociating from her roles, but the whole situation was so damn ironically like her grey's character that sometimes she did wonder who the hell she was. Of course Meredith was too nice and sweet and moraled to have an on-going affair with a married man, but Ellen couldn't help herself. Even if she wanted to stop, she couldn't.

She had recently begun to phase Chris out of her life, he had even started staying at one of his friend's most of the time. They had been together for quite awhile, but had started to grow apart a while back, and it was surprisingly easy to see less and less of him.

There was no way she was going to tell anyone who she was seeing, so it was good to keep him around casually to take to the press outings. The more uninvolved with her sexy co-star she seemed the better. She definitely did not want to be the next Brangelina!

It was hard on the set, to act so casual with him. They had such a hard time keeping their hands off each other, that it was a damn good thing Meredith and Derek were pretty much back together now. Imagine being paid to pretend like you like to kiss your lover. Never more did she enjoy coming to work, now that they were having so many scenes together, so many late nights taping. It made it a lot easier for Patrick to spend time with her. Where were they heading with all of this? She had no idea, and she didn't even want to think about it. He had a family, a child… and she ended up spending more time with him anyways with work, and the ability to travel together.

Not to say that all they did was have hot sex in bed… they truly enjoyed each other. Patrick's wife didn't have that much of a sense of humor, and he was a very funny man who enjoyed laughing. They could sit for hours talking and laughing and enoying themselves. Ellen got the impression that Jill kind of put a damper on Patrick's lightheartedness a lot, and as a result she purposely made herself relax more so that she wouldn't remind him of his wife, and she found that she was much happier for doing it.

She pulled into her driveway and went inside to pack and get ready.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mmmmm.. you smell good", Patrick murmured, pulling Ellen closer into his arms. They were laying in her hotel bed, enjoying the sunshine streaming in from the windows. Last night they had managed to dump their entourage and get to a new hotel, where neither one of them were registered under their real names. It hadn't been easy, but they had done it, and noone knew where they were right now, but best of all today noone would be looking.

Patrick had fabricated something about hanging out with some friends upstate, and Ellen had said she was taking the train to Boston. In reality, they were at the other end of NYC, in a hotel, enjoying some alone time.

"This is soo nice, I love waking up next to you." She said happily. " I like it because it means we get to have morning sex," he whispered in her ear suggestively. "You like any excuse to have sex," she laughed. "Yes I do," he agreed wholeheartedly, while his hands started to wander under the sheets.

Ellen giggled and arched against him. "Don't you want me to brush my teeth first?" "Who says I'm going to kiss you?" he teased her. "Do you want me to brush my teeth first?" he asked a heartbeat later. She looked into his eyes for a second before answering him by pulling him into a long, deep kiss. He got the idea , and pulled her over on top of him, as he flipped onto his back.

He really loved how teeny she was. He had a very hard time getting her out of his mind anymore. She was so feisty, and alive. He loved her laugh, it pulled at his heart every time he heard it, and he loved to be the one who made her laugh. He didn't know how noone knew what was going on between them, but he counted his blessings. He did not want her to be the subject of any gossip.

Not to say he didn't love Jill. He did. She was the mother of his child, she was a strong, independent woman, and very attractive. But something was missing there, that he hadn't even realized until he had met Ellen.

He had never felt that whole starry eyed, heart beat fast, can't catch your breath kind of love before, but Ellen made him feel so alive. They were constantly playing, and teasing each other, joking around and laughing, but then her eyes would flash that look that she had which drove him completely crazy , and the next thing he knew they would be all over each other, and he could never get enough of her.

She had given him that look first, when they were filming once. A Meredith and Derek scene. He had assumed she was acting, but it had made his heart catch just the same, and he hadn't been able to put her out of his mind for days. Literally he had needed to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her. But he had kissed her, when they had filmed the drunken tequila scene, he hadn't been able to stop himself, and he had been floored when she had kissed him back. They had both realized then that there was something, and had tried to behave themselves. Jill never came to the set of Grey's, but Chris used to come quite a bit. It was easy to be deterred when he was there.

But boy was he glad that they had finally given up on fighting this thing and given in to it. It had been to hard. He couldn't imagine his life without her. Just laying in bed with her slight weight on top of him, kissing her, was enough to let him die a happy man.

He reached up and gripped her narrow hips with his hands, marveling at how huge they seemed against her pelvis. He eased her up, and she lifted herself up to straddle him. They both stopped for a minute, as her body opened up to accommodate him, Patrick needing to take a minute or lose control. She leaned down to kiss him again, and then started to move on top of him. They liked to look into each others eyes when they made love, something that magnified the arousal about 100 times. He had a hard time controlling himself when she was on top of him, looking at him with those eyes, and he could feel her around him, and smell her, and taste her.

He let her be in control, jut biting his lip and bearing it, wanting her to catch up to where he already was so quickly. Ellen wasn't a screamer, she made this throaty little sound , and whimpers sometimes that nearly almost always did him in.

She was getting close, he could tell by the way she was tightening up around him, and he held onto her hips and moved her up and down some to help her out. His thumb found it's way around to her clit, and he watched as her pupils dilated and she started to lose control. It was amazing to stare into each others eyes as you were exploding into a thousand pieces. That was enough for him, and pushed him over the edge, which intensified everything for her. They both collapsed a few minutes later, spent and satiated.

"That's better than shopping," she joked a few minutes later when she could breathe again.

"Better than race car driving maybe," he quipped back. "Should we stay here all day, or do we want to get out of bed at all?"

"Hmmm.. " she pretended to ponder. "Maybe eat a little, shower, and then get back in bed?"

"Deal." He agreed, pulling her close to him to snuggle, neither one of them making a move to get up.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: Wow I never ever expected the kind of feedback I have been getting about this stoy. I have to write this story to deal with my pre-season frenzy and my depression about Patrick's new baby. But all the reviews and knowing others enjoy it drives to try to write some every day. _

It had been three years since Ellen and Patrick had first consummated their feelings for each other. Three years they had taken as many opportunities to be together as possible. In that time, Ellen had officially split with Chris, Jill gave birth to a baby boy, and Ellen had dated the occasional guy.

Sure, she realized that in order to have a child it meant you had sex, Patrick had sex with his wife. Ellen for some strange reason didn't feel jealous. She knew where his heart lie. She knew that if the world were different, he would choose her, that was enough for her. And besides being a single, famous actress, she got her pick of men, and she wasn't exactly a saint either. They didn't discuss their sexual relationships with other people, by mutual agreement. It was never brought up or alluded to.

They enjoyed the time that they could be together, and nothing else mattered. Even though they had never once discussed him getting a divorce , it wasn't something either one of them wanted. What they had worked.

Once, about a year and a half into the relationship, Ellen had experienced a pregnancy scare. She still shuddered when she thought about it. She had been afraid to tell him, but they didn't keep secrets from each other, and there had been no other alternative but to share it with him. "I think I might be pregnant," she had said to him when they had met in her trailer to rehearse lines.

He had looked up at her instantly, alert, and she was saddened to see excited. "Did you take a test?" he asked her right away.

"It's too soon to take one Patrick." She answered him. She was about two weeks late.

"They have tests you can take as soon as the day after, how late are you?" he asked her.

She had shaken her head. "I'll send Angie to get one tonight." Angie was her assistant. She could just imagine if she was spotted buying a pregnancy test.

"Let me know right away, there's things we need to, you need vitamins and you need to see a doctor." He said, smiling at her.

Ellen had gulped, she knew this was coming. "Patrick… I can't have a baby." she whispered softly.

The look she saw on his face, the sadness in his eyes nearly tore her apart. He looked up at her, and tried to speak, to ask her why, but couldn't get past the lump in his throat. She had reached over and taken his hand there, and answered him as if he had asked her.

"I'm single. I have a career that I need. Meredith isn't going to be pregnant anytime soon, and there's not really a way to hide that. And what would I say to people when they wanted to know the father?" she rambled on nervously. "And can you imagine me giving birth to a McDreamy junior? What if the baby came out looking just like you."

For the very first time, Patrick realized the damage their relationship really had done. Ellen might be going to have his baby, their baby, a little part of her, and she wouldn't be able to have him or her, because he was married. He could imagine her giving birth to their child. He could imagine it all too well, and the thought of it made him very happy.

This kind of thing had never been brought up before, and he hadn't really thought about it. Now it was hitting him full force in the face, and the thought that their child might have to be terminated cut into his heart. She reached out and touched his face, and he leaned into her hand, before wrapping her in his arms and holding her. She broke down into tears, and he held her while she cried, wishing he could cry with her.

That night they had tried to ignore the subject, rehearsing their lines, and pretend like nothing was happening. The relief had been evident in both of them when she had failed the test that night, and her period has started two days later. She had gone straight to the doctor and changed her birth control pill.

The scare had probably been what cemented the way their relationship was handled. Ellen was happy to have what she could with Patrick, while not taking him away completely from his family. He enjoyed his home life, and his children, Jill and him got along well, and he did love her. His and Ellen's time together was magical, and maybe, just maybe if they were full time it would lose some of it's luster. So they were both content to continue this way and not hurt anyone in the process.

Yes, there were times when Ellen laid on her bed, at home, alone crying. She never told him about those times, because she didn't want him to feel bad. Besides, always just when she was feeling the worst for herself, he would call. Even when he couldn't be with her, he always carried her with him. His biggest fear was that she would meet someone, someone who could be with her full time, and she would want to stop seeing him.

Sometimes, when they were apart he worried about it, but he never brought it up to her, because she would have every right to make that decision, and he would have to be happy for her. She deserved a family too. Ellen was an amazing woman, and he was damn lucky that she gave herself to him. She deserved someone who would spend every waking minute of their day on her, and instead she settled for the bits he could give her. It made him feel guilty. Guilt was something that he lived with a lot. He didn't really feel guilty about having a relationship with Ellen, most of his guilt came from not being around for the kids as much as other fathers might, and thinking about Ellen having to be without him on holidays, or spending lonely nights in her bed… which always led him to think about those nights that she wasn't alone, and not with him. He had no right to be jealous about it, but he was a man, and he had no control over that.


	5. Chapter 5

Ellen sighed and thumbed through the scripts in front of her. Greys was in it's 8th season, and was still a pretty strong powerhouse, but it took all her work time up. Sixteen hour days for nine months straight was exhausting. Plus, she got so many scripts and offers, but there wasn't really any time to work on them. It was time to retire Meredith Grey and move on. She loved the show, the cast, the super long hours she got to spend with Patrick, but sometimes it was better to end something before it ran out and went bad. Which closely paralleled to her relationship with Patrick in scary ways.

She had a script for a fantastic thriller, a James Patterson movie, that she'd love to do. And quite a few mainstream comedies as well. It was time to do some different roles, before all she was ever remembered for was Meredith Grey.

She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and called her agent.

"Ellen, what about all the time we will lose together?" Patrick asked her. He was in her trailer, leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest.

"If we stop the show, we won't have all these excuses to be together. I can't handle that."

Ellen smiled at him sadly. She loved him so much, and the idea of moving on, not being able to see him every day, or spend countless hours with him, travel with him, have a reason to be with him, killed her. But she was 44 years old, and had already lost so much time. It was time to move on, play different roles, and maybe find someone to get married and have a baby with before it was too late. She knew that she could never totally give him up, but that life as they had known it would be changed. She knew she would be lucky to see him once a week, and never have an excuse to travel with him again, but as much as she wanted to keep everything the way it was, sometimes you just couldn't do that. Sometimes you have to make the move, take the plunge.

"Patrick.." she said quietly. He looked up and met her eyes, and from the way his face changed, she could tell that he realized they were about to take steps they couldn't undo.

"I love you. God I do. But it's time now. It's been eight years. I can't keep turning down these roles. I can't go on anymore wondering if tonight I'll sleep alone, or will your wife? And I know… I know that's not fair to you, to say that now. All this time….. But I can't do this anymore." She started to cry. Patrick came over and slid into the booth with her, taking her in his arms.

"Shhhhh." He murmured into her hair. "It's okay. " He tilted her chin up to meet her eyes. Her tear brimmed eyes looked up at him, and he caught his breath at how beautiful she was. He wanted to kiss her, but they needed to talk first.

"Ellen… I know it's not been fair to you. I knew I was lucky for this to last as long as it did, and that it could tumble down at any point. I had no right to ask you for these years, to accept what you did. I didn't… I stayed because it was what you wanted me to do. You didn't want to be the woman who everyone saw as ending a marriage. If I had my way, I would have been married to you by now, and we'd have children. That wouldn't make me love Tally and Ethan any less. If we're going to do this, end this show, then fine. But we are not over, and if I don't have greys to help me see you anymore, then its time we take the next step… and be together for real, to everyone."

He caught his breath, waiting and pleading with his eyes for her to reply.

Ellen shook her head slightly. He was right, she knew if she'd asked he would have left to be with her years ago, but she hadn't wanted to deal with the backflash. Instead she had rather been the way they were, even when some nights it broke her heart. Even when she had the pregnancy scare all those years ago, and then just two years ago she had gotten an abortion she had never told anyone about. It had killed her to kill their baby, and not even share it with him, but she had known it would have killed him to know. That had been what had started these last two years of thinking. She would not be the woman who broke up a marriage and become fodder for the entire world to discuss. Sure sometimes she heard rumors about her and Patrick, but no more than any other co-stars did. Noone knew about them but her and him, and she was going to keep it that way.

"I'm sorry." She said simply, not meeting his eyes. She heard him exhale.

"Look at me." He demanded. She raised her eyes to his, wincing in pain when she saw the hurt there. "This isn't happening. You will not walk out of my life. I could no more not see you as I could not breathe." He was broken, beginning to have difficulty talking while holding back tears. She didn't know what to say. She had made up her mind already.

A knock on the trailer door sounded, and they both startled before jumping apart. She stood up and crossed over to the bathroom to wash her face, waiting for him to answer it. It was more than likely a crew member telling them it was time to shoot. They had retired to her trailer to rehearse. She knew the conversation wasn't over, but at least she had some leeway to form a defense to his attack.


	6. Chapter 6

"We need to talk." Patrick shifted nervously. Ellen looked up from the script she was reading, one eyebrow raised. Looking around she realized the set was clear.

"What's up?" she asked him, trying to sound lighthearted. Since her announcement they had danced around the entire subject, pretending there wasn't anything earth shattering to their relationship going on. It had been three days since she had told him her decision, and she had yet to talk to Shonda, but her mind was made up.

"I talked to Jillian. It's over." He looked at her defiantly.

"You what!" Ellen leaped off the chair she had been sitting on, before she lowered her voice after looking around to make sure noone had come in. "What the hell did you do?" she hissed at him.

"Calm down." He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to guide her off the set to the trailers. "Let's talk about this in private."

Ellen whipped her head around to stare at him, backing away from his hand. "I'm not being seen alone with you Patrick, you're crazy! You can still fix things with your wife, you didn't tell her about us did you?" she was on the verge of crying.

"Ellen…. Do you honestly think she didn't know? I always suspected she knew, we just chose not to discuss it. She knows, she has known, and I didn't have to say anything about it. The kids are older now, they can survive a divorce. She didn't throw knives at me, it was very civil."

Ellen wanted to die. The last thing she wanted was to break up a marriage. To have the world ogling her and knowing she had ended a marriage. How could she ever spend time with Patrick again, everyone would analyze and surmise that she was the cause. "I can't talk about this with you." She told him sadly, wanting to die when she saw how sad he looked. She leaned down and gathered her tote bag, before she turned and jogged off the set to her car. She'd call the A.D and let them know something had come up and she couldn't shoot today, but she had to get gone before he followed her, she needed to think.

Patrick watched her run, in anguish. He knew she would be upset with him, but he had to do it. He'd wanted more time with her, exclusive time with her forever, and this pushing point was just the thing to propel things forward. Ellen and him belonged together, and he was tired of living a lie. Jillian had admitted she had known it was just a matter of time before they were finished, and they had been able to work things out in a civil manner. He had always thought she might have known about Ellen, and he admired her for hanging in there like she had. It made him sad to think about it, she was the mother of his children, and even though they hadn't been close in years, he still cared about her. She had told him she was going to start divorce proceedings at the end of the month, and had agreed to have split custody.

He knew Ellen needed to have some time to process everything that had happened. She often reminded him of a wild horse, not quite tame, and timid. She startled easily. He wished he could be there for her right now, so she wouldn't have to be alone. It made him sad that he was the cause, but he knew she had to realize they were meant to be together and work things out. He hoped.


	7. Chapter 7

Ellen drove, not sure where she was going. She had tossed her cell phone on silence in the seat beside her, and she ignored the buzz that kept coming from it as it vibrated with voice mails. She clutched the wheel with both hands, carefully navigating the curvy roads along the coast. About halfway there she realized she was unconsciously heading to the private beach her and Patrick had often escaped to.

She didn't stop once in the two hour drive, and finally arrived realizing she was exhausted. She got out and sat on the beach in the warm sand for a while, watching the waves, and deliberately not thinking about anything. Seagulls and pelicans dotted the beach horizon, and she let herself be lulled by the waves crashing and the beach sounds.

Feeling rested after awhile, she finally headed back to her car and checked her voicemail. Patrick hadn't called. It was one of the things that made her love him, and miss him so much more. He knew she needed time, and he didn't force himself on her, or barrage her with calls. He understood her, like noone else ever had. He knew she was petrified, and torn. She really was. She realized that turning him away would be the biggest mistake of her life, and something she could never undo, but she also knew that there was a good chance she would do just that. That was Ellen, She was the girl who always gave up what she wanted, and maybe even felt better when she had a reason for things not to be perfect.

She wanted to stop it. Take the choice for happiness and leave this woman who hurt herself all the time. This woman who thought she wasn't good enough to be happy behind. So what if the gossip rags talked about her, and people thought she was a homewrecker. Look how many celebrities had done it. Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, Brangelina… It would hardly be the end of the world. And it wasn't like it would be sprung on some poor helpless Jill who had no idea and would be devastated. Patrick had said she knew.

She wanted to pick up her phone and call him and tell him where she was, and have him come to her. She needed to lay down in his arms and be told it was going to be allright, because when he was holding her she really felt like it would be. That was something that scared her too, because she didn't think it was a good thing that he affected her well being so much. What if she relied on him and he left her? She didn't know if she could just let go like he was asking her and do this. If only she could , if it was that simple. But Ellen never had been simple. Patrick teased her all the time about how complicated she made things. He was the one who forced her to pamper herself, telling her she deserved it. She was used to hiding everything behind jokes and laughter, and he was the first person to see the real Ellen inside. The one who cried sometimes, and he loved and understood her enough to know how to handle it and be there, without discussing it. There would never be anyone in her life like him. Knowing that should make this so easy for her, but she still sat and struggled against calling him.


	8. Chapter 8

"Ellen?" Patrick answered his phone, thankful she had finally called him. He heard her sniffle, and frowned, she was alone and crying and he wanted to be there with her, wherever she was.

"I shouldn't be calling." She said in a small voice. "I tried not to."

"No no no, I've been sitting here praying you would. Where are you?" he asked her, worried she would hang up.

"The beach." She answered. She didn't need to elaborate, he knew where she was talking about.

"I'm getting in the car right now and I'll be there in under an hour. Tell me what you're thinking." He told her as he found his keys and started the car. He didn't want her to hang up. He needed her to calm down and relax, so he could get through to her.

"I wish I wasn't thinking," she told him. "Thinking is the problem."

He nodded, this was not an easy thing for her he knew, but if she'd just weather this rough patch, it would end up so much better. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have to be afraid to touch her, or look at her in public. Or to be able to go to sleep with her next to him every single night. He just needed her to get past this.

They talked, light talk… small talk. About friends, the show, everything but what was going on as he drove. He could feel her relax, as he pulled some laughs out of her. He wasn't that far away when she told him she was going to hang up and find a bathroom before he got there. He assented, and sped up a little, anxious to get to her.

When he pulled off the road and onto the path that led to the private beach, he breathed a sigh of relief. She was perched on top of her car, chin on her knees waiting for him. He hadn't realized how tensed up and partially holding his breath he had been the whole way there, worried she would vanish. He parked and got out of the car, walking over to her.

Leaning against her car he spoke first, "So…"

She didn't look up. "So…. You and Jill. Us."

"Yeah." He said softly. She looked up and met his eyes, hers were red and tearstained.

"That's pretty big." She said finally.

"We can do this Ellen. Together. Other people have and lived. It happens a lot. Yes there will be gossip and talking and maybe snickering. But in the end all it really means is we don't have to hide anymore. Or Lie."

She searched his eyes for what seemed like an eternity. "I'm scared," she breathed.

He moved closer to her and took her in his arms. "I know, but we have each other, and that's all we need."

He took her chin in his hand and smiled at her. She settled into his arms. Making his heart start beating again, regularly.

"We have to take time though. Adjustment Periods. There has to be time taken."

He nodded, willing to agree to just about anything, as long as she was going to accept this.

"I mean it, I don't want your divorce published, and 'Dempsey and Pompeo lovers' on the tabloid that week, or the next."

"We are getting married though." He told her.

She looked surprised.

"Oh, I never asked you. Ellen, will you marry me, as soon as it's proper?" he asked her, half teasing.

She smiled, beginning to see that this wasn't quite as tragic as she was making it out to be. "Eventually." She told him.

He lifted her into his arms, swinging her around, elated. They walked down to the shore together, not caring for that moment who might see them kissing.


	9. Chapter 9

"So… can we let people know?" Patrick asked her. They were laying in bed, at a hotel not far from the beach they had both ended up at.

"Like friends you mean?" she asked him.

"Yes, and well everyone basically." He said, looking down at her smiling.

"I don't know…. I mean.." she hesitated.

"I think you are embarrassed about me." He pouted teasingly.

"Seriously. I mean my boyfriend has better hair than me." She teased back.

"C'mon Ellen. I'm single, your single."

"Technically, you … are married. That isn't single." She looked at him.

"Temporarily I am married. Long term no." He gave her his charming grin.

She rolled over on top of him, and let her hair fall around them, kissing him. "Fine. Whatever. You want to be public. You want me to wear the scarlet A. I'm going to throw caution to the wind and let all hang out."

"You'll hardly be wearing a scarlet A. And what do you mean let it all hang out? Only for me."

"Patrick… shut up and kiss me." She said, so he did.

Patrick had met with his lawyer the very next day and was surprised to find out Jill had already filed. She was even going to go shared custody. He was really greatful that she wasn't going to be bitter. Having children, they would always have a connection, and he didn't have any ill feelings towards her.

She had submitted that they should have some mediation to discuss visitations and whatnot, and he agreed wholeheartedly. He had signed the papers. Since she had her own business, she wasn't asking for maintenance. They were splitting most of their liquid assets, and she was going to keep the house, and take over payments on it. Patrick was to pay child support. He was retaining all of the funds he had brought into the marriage from his 80's success. What there was of it.

His lawyer had told him that the divorce would take ninety days. They had gone to work the next day, in the same car. Suprisingly noone said a word about them. Finally, after a half a day of noone saying anything, he had asked T.R.

"So, don't you have anything to ask? Any gossip going on?"

"Oh… you mean you and Ellen?" he asked while he looked over a script.

"Well… yeah." Patrick said.

"Old news dude, nothing we haven't all known all along." He looked at his co-worker and smiled.

"Old news? What do you mean. Noone knew!"

"Oh please. It was just a tad obvious."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Everyone?"

"Cast, crew… yeah pretty much even the cafeteria workers." T. R grinned at him.

"Wow." Patrick scratched his head. Had they been blind. Thinking they were so careful and secretive. And basically everyone had known. He chuckled to himself.


End file.
